Arizona

Close but no cigar for Arizona women’s basketball in double OT loss to USC

Published

2 years ago

March 1, 2024

Close but no cigar for Arizona women’s basketball in double OT loss to USC

It couldn’t have been a worse way to end their final season in the Pac-12. The Arizona Wildcats had to play six of their final games against Top 10 teams. Three of those would be on the road. With everything they’ve experienced this season, it was just adding insult to injury.

Arizona has turned that insult and injury on its head down the stretch. It almost did again, but No. 7 USC was just a little too much in a 95-93 double-overtime victory over Arizona.

“We battled a really good team—No. 7 team in the country—took them into overtime and had chances to win,” said Arizona head coach Adia Barnes. “I’m not upset at all. Obviously, I’m disappointed in the loss, but our kids played their hearts out. We basically played six players. I mean, they played the whole entire game…We made some mistakes. Our bigs fouled out. It really hurt us in rebounding. The difference in the game was rebounding and the fouls. So I can’t fault us. They played hard and we had a chance to win…so I’m proud of our players and we have to have selective amnesia.”

In the last game between the two teams, Arizona kept it close through the first 20 minutes, going into halftime trailing by just five points. USC ran away with the third quarter before coming back to earth in the fourth. That third quarter was all it took.

This wasn’t a repeat of that game, but it ended with the same result.

Again, it was close through the first half. This time, Arizona went into the half with a slight edge—and it solved its third-quarter issues from the last meeting. The Wildcats extended their two-point lead out of the locker room to a 53-46 advantage after 30 minutes.

The nearly 7,600 fans in McKale Center were rocking, only getting louder as Arizona stretched its lead to 10 several times in the fourth quarter. Then, star freshman JuJu Watkins fouled out with 1:41 to go in the game. It looked like a foregone conclusion. Arizona would win its second game against a Top 10 team in less than a week.

USC had different ideas.

Kayla Padilla stepped up for USC again, this time aided by Kaitlyn Davis. After Watkins fouled out, Davis made two layups and a jumper to pull USC within three points. Padilla tied the game.

As was the case at Oregon State in their last double-overtime loss, all Arizona needed was one rebound.

Esmery Martinez put the Wildcats up by five with two free throws. There was just 29 seconds to go.

At the other end, USC missed a 3-pointer but grabbed the offensive board. Davis got the second-chance bucket and the whistle. She missed her and-1 but grabbed her own offensive board. Padilla missed the first 3-point attempt. Davis grabbed the offensive board again. The next 3-pointer didn’t miss. It was all even with seven seconds to go.

“What I talked about with the staff was it was the exact situation as Oregon State that lost the game,” Barnes said. “Offensive rebound, and then that led to the 3s because when you give good teams…two, three chances, they’re going to hit one eventually.”

Pueyo had one go off the back of the rim at the end of regulation. It would take at least five more minutes to decide this one.

In the second overtime, USC led by three points with just over a minute to go. Williams tied it with 20 seconds to go. Neither team could push ahead over those final 20, so it was on to the second overtime.

Arizona led by as many as two in the final overtime, but USC had the advantage most of the time. Courtney Blakely made two free throws to cut the lead to three with 54 seconds to go.

With just five seconds left in the third overtime, USC opted to foul Arizona to keep the Wildcats from tying it with a 3-pointer. Pueyo hit both of her free throws, but USC was still up by one.

The Wildcats put Rayah Marshall on the line with the one-point lead. She made just one of her two free throws, giving USC a two-point lead. With no timeouts left, Arizona had to go the length of the court with four seconds to go.

Jada Williams made it up the court and let the ball go. It bounced off the back of the rim. Heartbreaker.

Fouls were once again Arizona’s Achilles heel. Breya Cunningham picked up two early in the first quarter and fouled out 10 seconds into the first overtime period. She was extremely effective when she was on the floor, going 4 for 4 with 3 rebounds and 2 blocks, but was restricted to about 15 minutes of play due to fouls.

Martinez also played sparingly compared to some of her teammates. Part of that was related to fouls, but part was due to being elbowed in the face for the second straight game.

“Playing 50 minutes is hard,” Barnes said of the task assigned to Helena Pueyo and Skylar Jones. “And then I’m asking her to score, too. I’m asking them to guard good players…That’s not easy. I mean, they’re mentally tough and we’re in great shape, but it’s hard. You’re gonna take plays off. You’re gonna mentally miss some box sets…I think it’s just hard to sustain it with our style for 50 minutes.”

Pueyo didn’t look any different than she usually does despite the huge task she’d just completed. Jones sat at the podium giggling and talking about how the things she was doing were going to help her in the future, seeming unbothered by almost 50 minutes of tough basketball and cycling through the different positions she has to play when the bigs get into foul trouble.

“In the long run, it’s gonna make me better,” Jones said. “It’s gonna make me more versatile like Helena when I get older, so I feel like it’s hard right now, and I don’t want to do it right now, but I’m gonna do it…In practice, they’re teaching me how to front, you know get in front and use my body and things like that. So I think it’s just gonna help me be a better player overall as we progress.”

Despite the loss, Barnes felt that the game proved once again how much the team has improved since early in the season—and how much it would continue to improve.

“I think we know that we can play with anybody in the country,” she said. “I think we know we’re gonna win some more games and I think we all feel really good about that…I don’t think we’re afraid of anybody. I know that we could have boxed out a little bit better, but they’re also a really good rebounding team, but that’s that’s a mental focus and adjustment that you can adjust to that. I think it’s hard to adjust to not moving the ball or playing selfish, but we’re playing unselfishish and there’s a lot of plays that we scored. We had beautiful plays to our posts, so many plays where everybody touches the ball and got reversed twice and the layup. So we’re playing good basketball right now…Two less mental mistakes or one less mental mistake, and we win the game.”

Pueyo led the team with 21 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 blocks, and 3 steals. Jones was just behind her with 19 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 steals.

Arizona also got double-digit scoring from Isis Beh with 16 points, Williams with 14, and Courtney Blakely with 11.

The team faces UCLA on senior day Saturday, Mar. 2 at 6 p.m. MST.

Source link

Related Topics:Arizona basketball Featured front page

Click to comment

Arizona

Arizona grandma surprised with $500, GoFundMe after helping stranger

Published

9 hours ago

December 3, 2025

Press Room

Arizona grandma surprised with 0, GoFundMe after helping stranger

Valley social media influencer Jimmy Darts gave an Arizona grandma the surprise of a lifetime after helping him buy medicine at an Arizona Walmart. Eighty-six-year-old Connie didn’t hesitate to help, even though she’s struggling to afford food and rent. Darts surprised her with $500 on the spot and then set up a GoFundMe, where over 2,000 people have donated more than $58,000 to help turn her life around.

Source link

Arizona

Arizona AG sues Temu over alleged illegal data collection, false advertising

Published

21 hours ago

December 2, 2025

Press Room

Arizona AG sues Temu over alleged illegal data collection, false advertising

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Arizona’s top prosecutor announced a lawsuit against a China-based online shopping giant Tuesday morning, alleging the platform steals customer data and misleads customers.

“We allege that Temu has repeatedly and willfully violated the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act and put the privacy of Arizonans, including minors, at extreme risk,” said Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes in a written statement. “Arizonans should be aware that behind Temu’s low prices and shiny advertising, there is real danger. The Temu app can infect users’ devices with malware to steal their private data while carefully hiding its tracks.”

The AG’s office said the complaint was filed in Maricopa County Superior Court on Monday. The state alleges that the Temu app is deliberately designed to “harvest sensitive user data without users’ knowledge or consent and to evade detection.”

In addition to the privacy risk allegations, the state claims the shopping giant is also engaging in deceptive and unfair trade practices, including the use of forced labor and false advertising.

Specifically, the AG’s office shared examples of merchants selling counterfeit goods of iconic Arizona brands like those of sports teams and colleges, including the Arizona Cardinals, Fender Guitars, the University of Arizona, Arizona State University, and Northern Arizona University.

Some other complaints the state says it has seen include fake reviews, using payment information to order items not requested, bait-and-switch, and charging for goods not ordered or not delivered.

“I will not stand by while a Chinese company vacuums up reams of sensitive data from Arizonans’ phones and profits from deception and abuse,” added Mayes. “We are taking Temu to court to stop these practices, protect Arizonans’ privacy, and hold Temu fully accountable under Arizona law.”

See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.

Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.

Source link

Arizona

Arizona Cardinals Week 13 offensive snap counts, observations

Published

1 day ago

December 2, 2025

Press Room

Arizona Cardinals Week 13 offensive snap counts, observations

A look at how the Cardinals split up their 61 offensive snaps against the Bucs.

In the Arizona Cardinals’ 20-17 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, 17 players participated in at least one of the 61 offensive snaps.

Quarterback Jacoby Brissett, left tackle Paris Johnson Jr., left guard Evan Brown, center Hjalte Froholdt, right guard Isaiah Adams, right tackle Kelvin Beachum played every snap. Wide receiver Michael Wilson missed four, while tight end Trey McBride played all but seven.

How was the playing time divided up? Below are individual snap counts for every player who got in the game offensively, grouped by position.

The first number after each name is snaps and the second is the percentage. Players in bold were starters.

Arizona Cardinals Week 13 offensive snap counts: Quarterbacks

Jacoby Brissett (61/100
Active, did not play: Kedon Slovis
Reserve/injured (eligible for return): Kyler Murray

It was the fourth 300-yard game (301) in Brissett’s seven starts, but the record is 0-4 in those games and 1-6 overall. He completed 29-of-40 passes with two touchdown passes and one interception for a 100.1 passer rating. The interception was a bad decision and behind wide receiver Michael Wilson to stop their first possession of the game on a play that began at the 20-yard line, but not in the red zone.

On third down, Brissett’s three completions on six attempts achieved first downs for a total of 39 yards. He was sacked once and threw incomplete twice in the fourth quarter on third-and-1 and third-and-2 and on third-and-3 from the Tampa Bay 25-yard line in the third quarter. He ran three times for 16 yards with a long of eight.

Brissett said after the game, “It’s just execution, man. In a lot of those critical plays, I got to play a lot better.”

Running backs

Michael Carter (32/52), Bam Knight (29/48)
Inactive: Emari Demercado (injured)
Active/did not play (except for special teams): Jermar Jefferson
Reserve/injured: Trey Benson (eligible to return/practicing), James Conner (eligible to return, but won’t)

It was one of the better outings of the season as Knight rushed 11 times for 62 yards (5.6 average) and contributed 36 yards, including a 15-yard touchdown, on three receptions. He ended up with 98 yards from scrimmage. However, there was a lost fumble on the first possession of the first half after he ran for 13 yards on the first play.

Carter had 17 yards on three carries and added five catches for 47 yards.

Wide receivers

Michael Wilson (57/93), Marvin Harrison Jr. (37/61), Xavier Weaver (30/49), Greg Dortch (20/33)
Active/did not play (except for special teams): Andre Baccellia
Reserve/injured: Simi Fehoko (eligible to return), Zay Jones (eligible to return, but won’t)

Harrison returned after missing two games because of appendicitis and caught six of seven targets for 69 yards with a long of 21. He was on and off the field because of a heel injury. Wilson returned to earth with three receptions for 26 yards on seven targets. Dortch had two catches for 14 yards, while Weaver was targeted once, but it wasn’t caught.

Tight ends

Trey McBride (54/89), Elijah Higgins (25/41), Pharaoh Brown (7/11), Josiah Deguara (3/5)
Reserve/injured: Tip Reiman, Travis Vokolek (both eligible to return, but won’t)

The beat goes on for McBride, who caught eight of nine targets for 82 yards and a touchdown. He extended his streak of five-catch games to 14, the second-longest in history for a tight end. He’s one game behind Travis Kelce of the Chiefs. McBride entered the game tied with Jimmy Graham for the most receiving yards for a tight end (301) in their first four seasons. The only blemish was a missed block on a failed fourth-and-1 play from the Cardinals’ 39-yard line in the fourth quarter that led to a 57-yard Chase McLaughlin field goal.

Higgins had two receptions for 17 yards.

Offensive linemen

LT Paris Johnson Jr. (61/100), LG Evan Brown (61/100), C Hjalte Froholdt (61/100), RG Isaiah Adams (52/62), RT Kelvin Beachum (61/100), RT Josh Fryar (11/18)
Inactive: C/G Hayden Conner
Active/did not play: T Demontrey Jacobs
Active/did not play (except for special teams): C/G Jon Gaines II
Reserve/injured: RG Will Hernandez (eligible to return), T Christian Jones (eligible to return/practicing), RT Jonah Williams (eligible to return but won’t)
Reserve/injured: Valentin Senn

The five starters played every snap, including Adams who returned to the first group after Hernandez was placed on injured reserve Saturday. Conner was activated from IR Saturday, but was inactive for the game. The decision was made five days before the deadline in his 21-day practice window.

In the Arizona Cardinals’ 20=17 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Sunday, 17 players participated in at least one of the 61 offensive snaps.

How was the playing time divided up? Below are individual snap counts for every player who got in the game offensively, grouped by position.

The first number after each name is snaps and the second is the percentage. Players in bold were starters.

Arizona Cardinals Week 13 offensive snap counts:

Quarterbacks

Jacoby Brissett (61/100

Active, did not play: Kedon Slovis

Reserve/injured (eligible for return): Kyler Murray

It was the fourth 300-yard game (301) in Brissett’s seven starts, but the record is 0-4 in those games and 1-6 overall. He completed 29 of 40 passes with two sacks and one interception for a 100.1 passer rating. The interception was a bad decision and behind wide receiver Michael Wilson to stop their first possession of the game on a play that began at the 20-yard line, but not in the red zone.

Brissett said after the game, “It’s just execution man. In a lot of those critical plays, I got to play a lot better.”

Running backs

Michael Carter (32/52), Bam Knight (29/48)

Inactive: Emari Demercado (injured)

Active/did not play (except for special teams): Jermar Jefferson

Reserve/injured: Trey Benson (eligible to return/practicing), James Conner (eligible to return, but won’t)

Carter had 17 yards on three carries and added five catches for 47 yards.

Wide receivers

Michael Wilson (57/93), Marvin Harrison Jr. (37/61), Xavier Weaver (30/49), Greg Dortch (20/33)

Active/did not play (except for special teams): Andre Baccellia

Reserve/injured: Simi Fehoko (eligible to return), Zay Jones (eligible to return, but won’t)

Tight ends

Trey McBride (54/89), Elijah Higgins (25/41), Pharaoh Brown (7/11), Josiah Deguara (3/5)

Reserve/injured: Tip Reiman, Travis Vokolek (both eligible to return, but won’t)

The beat goes on for McBride, who caught eight of nine targets for 82 yards and a touchdown. He extended his streak of five-catch games to 14, the second-longest in history for a tight end. He’s one game behind Travis Kelce of the Chiefs. McBride entered the game tied with Jimmy Graham for the most receiving yards for a tight end (301) in their first four seasons. The only blemish was a missed block on a failed fourth-and-1 play from the Cardinals 39-yard line in the fourth quarter that led to a 57-yard Chase McLaughlin field goal.

Higgins had two receptions for 17 yards.

Offensive linemen

LT Paris Johnson Jr. (61/100), LG Evan Brown (61/100), C Hjalte Froholdt (61/100), RG Isaiah Adams (52/62), RT Kelvin Beachum (61/100), RT Josh Fryar (11/18)

Inactive: C/G Hayden Conner

Active/did not play: T Demontrey Jacobs

Active/did not play (except for special teams): C/G Jon Gaines II

Reserve/injured: RG Will Hernandez (eligible to return), T Christian Jones (eligible to return/practicing), RT Jonah Williams (eligible to return but won’t)

Reserve/injured: Valentin Senn

Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.

Source link